Everett’s golden eyes shimmered seductively under the moonlight.
Thump. Thump.
My heart pounded loudly, making its presence known.
‘This is just a trick of the mind, caused by visual stimulation.’
I struggled to resist the allure of the moonlight.
‘Stay focused, Carolina Diaz.’
Thankfully, my heartbeat gradually returned to normal.
To hide the fact that I had been momentarily flustered by Everett, I asked with feigned nonchalance, “So, what brings you here at this hour, Lord Roxas?”
Today was the Emperor’s birthday ball.
There was no reason for Everett to be here at this time.
“Well…”
Everett hesitated, searching for the right words.
“I didn’t really want to be at the ball…”
Just as he was about to explain further, distant sounds of commotion reached us.
“Pardon? What did you say?”
Everett glanced toward the direction of the noise, biting his lip nervously and ruffling his hair in frustration.
Muttering a curse under his breath, Everett turned to me and said, “Miss Diaz, I have a favor to ask.”
* * *
Edwin cursed under his breath as the sound of the approaching pursuers grew louder.
‘If they catch me, this will be an absolute disaster.’
He would have preferred playing the fool at the ball a hundred times over than facing this embarrassment.
Unintentionally, he sent a desperate look in Lina’s direction.
“Miss Diaz, I have a favor to ask.”
Lina’s violet eyes showed a hint of suspicion.
“It’s not difficult, I promise,” Edwin quickly added.
It really wasn’t a difficult request.
He just needed a little help to evade the guards who were after him.
“I’ll hear you out first.”
Although Lina’s suspicion hadn’t entirely faded, she gave a nod of approval.
Edwin put on his most sincere expression as he began to explain the situation.
“You know there’s a masquerade ball happening at the palace tonight, right?”
“I heard about it,” Lina responded, her expression stern, as if scolding a troublesome younger sibling.
Edwin averted his gaze and continued, “Well, I was supposed to attend it too.”
‘It is my birthday, after all.’
“But I’m not really fond of those kinds of events.”
Whenever he showed up at such gatherings, the young ladies would drop handkerchiefs or fans in his path.
Some would even pretend to faint, hoping he would catch them.
The most daring ones…
Edwin sighed, recalling the wine that had been splashed on his dress shirt.
Fortunately, Edwin’s weary demeanor seemed to elicit sympathy from Lina.
“Some people do have those preferences,” she said, nodding understandingly, as if she interpreted his distaste for such events in a different way.
She likely saw him as a shy knight, but Edwin didn’t mind. It worked in his favor.
“So I just made a brief appearance and tried to slip out quietly, but then things got a bit complicated…”
Edwin explained the situation to Lina, carefully glossing over the more crucial details.
About thirty minutes earlier…
Edwin had excused himself to avoid a young lady who was trying too hard to make conversation, claiming that he needed to clean the wine off his clothes. He had headed to the lounge.
Hoping she would give up and leave while he delayed, he instead found the number of people outside the lounge only increasing.
‘Next time, it’ll be champagne,’ he thought.
He felt surrounded by a legion of enemies, difficult ones to deal with.
Even though Edwin was the Emperor, he couldn’t just dismiss the young ladies for trying to catch his attention. Especially not the ones who had just come of age, several years younger than him.
Edwin had finally decided to leave early to avoid the women waiting outside the lounge.
He changed into a servant’s outfit and put on a temporary mask.
His real mask was handed to his aide, the ‘real’ Everett Roxas.
His aide, now standing in as his double in the capital, had tried to dissuade him, warning that it might lead to trouble, but Edwin hadn’t taken it seriously.
“But I was caught by the guards as I tried to sneak out of the ballroom.”
‘His warning was a premonition.’
Edwin sighed before continuing, “The guards mistook me for an intruder, and now I’m being chased.”
In hindsight, he should have just admitted to being caught and returned to the ballroom.
‘But I didn’t want to, and now here I am.’
He knew the layout of the palace well enough to avoid the guards, but what he hadn’t accounted for was the palace’s heightened security measures.
As soon as an intruder was reported, the highest level of alert was issued, and nearly every guard in the palace was out searching.
‘Maybe I trained them too well.’
If the intruder had been anyone other than himself, the guards’ response would have been perfect.
“Why not just explain the misunderstanding?” Lina asked, pointing out the obvious solution.
“It’s too late to reveal my identity now,” Edwin groaned, clutching his head in frustration.
The words he couldn’t bring himself to say seemed to be understood by Lina.
“I see,” Lina said, her suspicion finally starting to ease.
“So, what do you need me to do?”
Her tone was surprisingly cooperative.
“I need to get out of the palace,” Edwin explained, outlining the plan he had formed while evading the guards.
His goal was to reach Kyle’s information guild outside the palace.
Once there, he planned to have Kyle send a message to the palace, explaining that it was a misunderstanding and that the intruder was actually a member of the intelligence division.
The identities of the intelligence division’s members were classified, so they could claim that the “intruder” had been trying to avoid detection due to secrecy.
Of course, Kyle would have his fun pretending not to know who he was.
“I understand. But you don’t have an exit pass, do you?” Lina quickly deduced the crux of the issue.
“That’s right,” Edwin admitted quietly.
His ears felt hot with embarrassment.
Edwin had realized he needed an exit pass just in time while heading toward the outer part of the palace to reach Kyle’s café.
‘If I had just walked out without it, I would’ve triggered the palace’s wards… which would’ve been the worst-case scenario.’
A chill ran down his spine at the thought.
Luckily, he was near the outer wall where the finance department was located, and Lina, someone he knew, happened to be taking a walk nearby.
As a palace official, Lina would have an exit pass.
Lina crossed her arms and scrutinized him.
Meanwhile, the sound of the guards’ footsteps grew closer.
“Miss Diaz?” Edwin prompted, hoping for her decision.
Fortunately, Lina’s deliberation was brief.
“All right, but wait here a moment. I need to return to the office to grab something since I was in the middle of work.”
* * *
The moment I agreed to help, Everett’s face lit up with relief.
‘We’re colleagues, after all. We should help each other out.’
I left Everett in the garden and headed back to the office.
‘There’s still some work left unfinished.’
If I was going to help Everett without an exit pass, I would have to accompany him out.
‘I really don’t want to leave and come back again.’
In the end, I decided to leave the work for future me to handle and quickly tidied up my desk.
Gathering my belongings, I headed back to the garden where Everett was waiting.
Everett met me halfway as if to greet me.
“Miss Diaz.”
He extended his hand, almost like he was asking for an escort. I placed my hand on his, mimicking the manner of a haughty noble lady.
“Shall we?”
We headed for the least frequented exit of the palace.
“May I see your exit pass?”
The guard at the gate asked, extending a hand wearily.
I stepped in at the right moment.
“This is my colleague. He forgot his exit pass at home.”
It wasn’t unheard of for palace officials to forget their passes occasionally.
“He entered with me this morning.”
“Is that so?”
The guard started checking the entry logs.
“He didn’t come through this gate this morning…”
I feigned confusion and mumbled, “Oh, we wanted to go to the festival. But it’s quite a detour to go out through the gate we came in this morning.”
I cast my eyes downward, trying to look pitiful, while mumbling about how I had worked overtime for several nights just to make time for the festival.
“Next time, make sure you follow the proper procedure. I’ll let it slide this once,” the guard finally relented, though not without a good scolding.
Fortunately, the guard was flexible enough to let us pass.
We walked quickly until the gate was just a tiny speck behind us.
Then, we both exhaled in relief.
“I owe you again,” Everett said with a smile, thanking me.
“But is it true that you worked overtime just to go to the festival?”
“Yes.”
I answered his playful question, already dreading the work awaiting me the morning after tomorrow.
